what I do

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Our weather has been all over the place lately. We went from pouring rain on Sunday to beautiful spring-like days on Monday and Tuesday. (Have you noticed all the birds chirping?).

I have an assignment from a study I am doing though my church to notice nature this week. On Monday morning while I was sitting in my car waiting for a painter, I noticed the most beautiful blue skies and white puffy clouds and snapped some photos.

If you live where the skies are always blue this might not seem like much, for for Southern California it is a real treat. By the late afternoon, the clouds were gone and the skies were clear and blue.

But today, you would have thought were were in the middle of summer. I don't know, maybe it was the hot weather that got to me but I had a little house melt-down. My living room looked so dark and heavy. And that made me feel dark and heavy. And so while I stopped to take a little lunch break I thought about lightening it up. Maybe more white, I thought.

I went on a little tangent. I pulled some furniture from my daughter's (who is away at college) room and switched some darker pieces for her crisp white furniture. It didn't all stay but one piece did. For now anyway.

I had black and white photographs framed on the wall. Nothing special ... just images I had taken off the computer. And they seemed heavy too. So I decided to change them and add a little color (subtle, but color). I used the scrapbook card stock I had purchased to use for the baby shower I decorated last week.

Here is the living room before (a few pillow changes had been made since the photo was taken):

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The first time I saw this room was at the Veranda Showhouse at the Greystone Mansion in L.A. in 2008. This was my favorite room. I loved the colors. I loved the twin beds (I have a thing for twin beds in a room) and oh, those glorious benches at the foot of the beds. And thought it was fun that she used inexpensive West Elm headboards for these very elegant beds (my kind of girl).

I love Elizabeth Dinkel's work; I am impressed with her sense of color and attention to detail.

And she excels in an area that is my weakest ... window treatments! Here are a few of my favorites:

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

1. A person who accumulates things and hides them away for future use.

2. Acquiring and failing to throw out a large number of items that would appear to have little
or no value to others.

3. (Hoard) A hidden fund or supply stored for future use; a cache

4. (Hoarding) The excessive acquisition of possessions (and failure to use or discard them).

In my mind, I have a "dream" closet - with a classy ottoman to sit on and a lovely chandelier hanging from the ceiling, perfectly designed shelves and cubbies for shoes and purses ... all empty! I LOVE empty drawers and cupboards. Do you think this is taking it a bit too far?

(Actually I just finished up an organizing job and these were leftovers that the client didn't need anymore and I figured they might come in handy for another job so I brought them home). But in the meantime, my garage is a little full! I have asked my husband to keep the garage door closed. Can you imagine what the neighbors will think? (Hoarder!)

Monday, March 28, 2011

A client of mine asked me last week if I would help her with a baby shower she was giving for her step-daughter who is having twin boys. There wasn't a lot of time (the shower was in a few days) but she was stuck and needed a little help. She was thinking about doing a jungle theme since that was what the babies' bedding was going to be and that was what the invitations were. I needed ideas that were simple, fast and inexpensive. Before we met I picked up some fabric that had the colors of the invitations and the babies' bedding (green, browns, yellows) and threw in some animal prints and some blues to brighten it up a bit. My idea was to do something simple with fabric and twine kind of like my sister did when she gave my daughter a wedding shower last summer.

I liked how the simple strips of fabric looked tied to the twine and thought it would be a darling way to add some fun the the baby shower. My idea was to add some zebra other animal prints to the mix.

Wedding Shower last summer

I also picked up some card stock in the colors I wanted to use and some animal prints as well to make paper banners like I did for my daughter's birthday a couple of weeks ago.

Griffin's Birthday banner

Before meeting at my client's house we decided to visit a new store in our area that she had wanted me to see. She thought there might be some things she could use in her house after the shower as well; things that would give her house a more Spring-time look.

The store is tpt home and has everything from ribbon and floral to dishes and even small furniture. If you live local it is off the 405 in Costa Mesa in the new SOCO center near Stark Carpet. While we shopped I got inspired.

I started with a Spring look (eggs, new birth) and used the color blue for the 'boys'. We picked up quite a few topiary balls which I used everywhere.

I added some zebra print ribbon that my client had to "jungle it up".

I brought a sample banner that I had made for my daughter's birthday but my client like it so much I never even opened the new card stock packages! That was easy! She was fine without the animal prints and so was I.

I loved this frame (also from tpt home) ... I thought the double "cherish" - was just perfect for twins! A couple of giraffes for good measure ...

I used fabric strips and burlap and ribbon to add some color and fun to the dining room table and chandelier.

The table ready for some pretty desserts ...

These little birds are so sweet and were a good price - I think around $5 each. The color of the eggs were perfect!

Nothing says "Spring-time" more than a nest filled with eggs.

My client has a large bulletin board in her kitchen and she asked me to do something with it. My supplies were limited. I used some leftover burlap I had brought and paper and ribbon. I took the extra invitations to the shower and split them up. The feet print was a duplicate I had brought to put in the "cherish" frame and the shoes I "borrowed" from her daughter's "build-a-bear".

What to do with the sticks....

I tied strips of fabric on the bare sticks to add some color ... and added burlap to all the pots.

Even the exterior spaces were dressed up ... more topiary balls were added ...

A crisp new pillow from HomeGoods for the swing and a new welcome sign ...

This small little green table was a "must have" from tpt home.

More greens for the front entrance and a pretty little wreath ...

And a client's green thumb was all that was needed to make this home baby shower and ready-for-Spring-perfect.

I am an interior decorator that specializes in "one day re-styling". I like to create chic, warm and uncluttered spaces, am not afraid of small budgets and love to re-style your home using what you already have. I am passionate about creating beautiful spaces and believe good design can be achieved on any budget. You can contact me via email: sherricassaradesigns